Oaklawn's plans for an expanded racing season in 2021-22 received expected and immediate support.
The Arkansas Racing Commission, meeting by teleconference Thursday, approved the Hot Springs' track request for a 66-day session starting Friday, Dec. 3, and running through Sunday, May 8. Oaklawn's 118th live racing season will mark its first December dates and first spread over two years. Since 2019, Oaklawn has asked horsemen to "stay until May" after previously shutting down with the Arkansas Derby in early April.
The new schedule adds nine days to the racing calendar. In recent years, Oaklawn has raced 57 days starting in late January. The 2021 season, ending May 1, consisted of 51 days, two being added to replace eight canceled because of a winter storm in February.
"This is great for racing," track President Louis Cella said. "It's good for Oaklawn. It's good for horsemen. I think it's positive. We are ever-changing, and this is more change in our favor."
Attorney Skip Ebel, general attorney for Oaklawn Jockey Club and a Hot Springs native, said during the teleconference that many would benefit from the extension and from racing in December.
"I believe it also has the support of the tourism industry in Hot Springs and Garland County," Ebel said. Steve Arrison, executive director of Visit Hot Springs, publicly supported the plan when it was announced early in June.
Five of the seven racing commissioners participated in a teleconference vote, each voting in favor.
"This is something that's been worked out between Oaklawn and the horsemen," said ARC Chairman Alex Lieblong, himself among the horse owners on the panel. "We've always kind of taken a (position) that if Oaklawn and the horsemen can work it out, unless there's something we really don't think they're seeing, we have kind of always gone along with the horsemen and Oaklawn."
The longer season allows management to bring back 2-year-old racing, which has been prohibited at the track since 1971 under a policy issued by the late Charles J. Cella, the current president's father and track president himself for almost 50 years. A December season would follow the Churchill Downs fall meet (Louisville, Ky.) and overlap with Fair Grounds (New Orleans) and Remington Park (Oklahoma City), two other tracks with fall dates that race 2-year-olds.
Although Oaklawn's stakes schedule for the 2021-22 season is to be determined, Cella said the new schedule provides an opportunity for a stakes race for 2-year-olds.
"On paper, we're kicking that around right now," Cella said. "We don't want to get far over our skids right now, but we will explore that."
The schedule features 20 weeks of three racing days, each running Friday-Sunday; one week of four race days for Presidents Day weekend Feb. 18-21; and one week of two race days when the track closes for Easter Sunday, April 17.
The Arkansas Derby, the track's oldest race, producing seven winners of the Kentucky Derby, is Saturday, April 16. The 148th Kentucky Derby, traditionally held on the first Saturday in May, is May 7, 2022.
Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn's 2020 training champion, said "this is going to help the whole racing industry and the town of Hot Springs. There should be a standing ovation for the Cella family and the racing commission for approving this proposal."
Here at the racing dates for the 2021-22 season:
December 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 31-Jan. 2.
January 7-9, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30.
February 4-6, 11-13, 18-21, 25-27.
March 4-6, 11-13, 18-20, 25-27.
April 1-3, 8-10, 15 and 16, 22-24, 29-May 1.
May 6-8.